Crypto firm Bullish, Far Peak call off $9 bln SPAC deal

Dec 22 (Reuters) – Cryptocurrency firm Bullish and Far Peak Acquisition Corp (FPAC.N) said on Thursday they had called off their $9 billion merger, making it the latest blank-check deal to fall through as the industry comes under increasing regulatory scrutiny.

The special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), which raised $550 million in its initial public offering and is led by former NYSE President Thomas Farley, will also wind down by March 7.

“Our quest to become a public company is taking longer than expected, but we respect the SEC’s ongoing work to lay new digital asset frameworks and clarify industry-specific disclosure and accounting complexities,” Bullish Chief Executive Officer Brendan Blumer said.

One of the hallmarks of pandemic-era dealmaking, SPACs have since fallen out of favor amid a regulatory crackdown and a sudden rise in interest rates that has rattled the equities market.

Backed by billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel, Bullish is a unit of the blockchain software company Block.one. The deal would have fetched it nearly $600 million in proceeds.

Reporting by Anirban Chakroborti in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva

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